1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to point-of-purchase display strips for packages of consumer product. More particularly, the invention relates to point-of-purchase display strips for flexible packages of consumer product, such as snack food packages.
2. Description of the Background Art
Retail outlets have widely utilized point-of-purchase display racks for displaying and dispensing a variety of packages, bags, packets, etc., of consumer products, such as snack food packages. Such display racks can be cumbersome, and in some instances require more space than businesses can allocate. Smaller display "cards" or "strips" thus are frequently being used as a substitute for display racks.
A display strip for packages of consumer products generally comprises a strip of cardboard or another rigid material which is a little less than a meter long and 5 cm wide and, typically, is small enough to be hung on a wall, or stand on a counter, near a cash register. Packages are usually affixed to the strip for display by folding and tucking the top seal of the package into a slot on the card. The products displayed on the strip are conveniently browsed by consumers and are easily removed ("shopped") from the display as desired. Stocking and restocking the strip, however, requires tedious, one-by-one placement and replacement by hand of individual packages. Attempts to efficiently and effectively stock these "fold/tuck/slot" strips by automated processes have proven to be complicated and generally have not been successful. An example of this type of display strip is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,422,552 to Palmer et al.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,272,623 to Runner discloses another type of display card, in which a consumer package is removed from the display card along a "scored" line or perforation. The package is specially designed to be filled, folded and closed to create a lip on which adhesive is applied for securing the lip and package to the display card. The score line from which the package is removed is on this special lip and is broken when the package is removed. A similar type of display card is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,801,002 to Volckening et al.
Other display cards utilized in the industry are cards upon which packages are hung. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,667,827 to Calcerano, 4,214,661 to Turetsky et al. and 4,312,449 to Kinderman. Stocking these display cards also is tedious, as individual packages are placed and replaced by hand.
There thus exists a need for point-of-purchase display strips and cards that offer an optimum balance of product stocking convenience and effectiveness, that are suitable to automated production techniques, with easy removal of the sealed package from the cards and strips.